Vehicle sharing services enabling “car-sharing” have become increasingly popular in the United States and around the world. Individuals gain the benefit of private vehicle use without the costs and responsibility of ownership such as repayment of car loans, finding a parking space, purchasing and maintaining insurance, vehicle upkeep and repair, etc. Instead of owning one or more vehicles, the car sharing model enables individuals and businesses to access a fleet of vehicles on an as-needed, on-demand basis.
In a typical vehicle sharing service, the users are members of the sharing service system operated by a remote service provider. The users may have been pre-approved by the service provider based on, for example, background checks, driving history, criminal record checks, establishment of a payment method and mechanism, etc. Typically, such a vehicle sharing service has several service locations, and the shared vehicle is picked up and returned to a designated service location, such as a parking space, parking lot, or other car sharing center closest to the user.
When the member of the vehicle sharing service wants to use a vehicle, he/she reserves a vehicle over the internet via an app or website on a mobile or computing device, over the phone, or other communication network. At a designated location, the user gains access to the vehicle with use of an access card that includes a vehicle access code. The member must have the access card in hand to unlock and drive the reserved vehicle. Such an access card utilizes communication and data retrieval methods called RFID (Radio Frequency ID), NFC (Near-Field Communication), QR (Quick Response) code, bar code, etc.
For example, for a vehicle sharing service that uses RFID cards, the service provider must install expensive aftermarket RFID readers and cellular modems in the vehicles and provide physical RFID cards to members. When a member made a reservation of a vehicle, the service provider sends an access code in RFID format from a remote server to the reserved vehicle. At the vehicle location, the member retrieves the access code through the RFID card from the reserved vehicle and the RFID card sends the access code to the server. The server then verifies the access code to unlock the vehicle so that the member can gain access to the vehicle.
Conventional vehicle sharing services that use the RFID cards, or other types of cards such as NFC, QR code, bar code, etc., as noted above, are prone to incur high costs due to installation and maintenance of readers and modems unique to such communication and data retrieval methods in the vehicles, as well as the provision of access cards to all users. Further, users are required to retain a special single-use card which may be easily lost or damaged.
Thus, there is a need for a method and system for unlocking vehicles that employ a simpler and lower cost communication methods and devices in order to decrease the overall costs for vehicle sharing services and increase convenience for users of such services.